Restore
by Born of the Wave
Summary: It's junior year for Naminé and her friends, and they think they're well prepared for it. Or are they? Can a startling secret ruin everything?
1. Innocence

People are different in person versus text and chat, and that is just a simple fact of life. Well, normally, anyways. I know I'm different, but that's because I'm just so naturally shy around other people, normally. Butwhen I'm texting and chatting with my friends, I act completely different. Out of character, if you want to call it that. Then again, I was more outgoing around my friends…. Though, why I was even bothering to think about this, I had absolutely no idea.

Anyways, I'm Naminé Nomura, age sixteen, supposed prodigy (mostly in art). My best friends were (still are) Kairi Nakamura, whom I met because our teacher way back when we first met coincidentally always partnered us up for just about everything ( it helped that we always sat near each other in every class we had together), and Xion Fair, whom I met at the library one day in sixth grade. We're a trio of best friends, and we always promised we'd never break apart, so I always held onto them for dear life. They were like the ones who held me together when I was about to fall apart, truthfully. I really did care about them, and they cared about each other and me.

Actually, we were quite a scene when in public, still are, but not quite as much as back then. Whenever I was with them about a year or two ago, we tended to hug or hold hands as we walked through the halls or the mall. Adding to this, Kairi is a _huge_ flirt (I don't think she's really aware of it, either) so sometimes she would kiss Xion's cheek or mine in a playful way, and sometimes pull one of us into her lap. We even sometimes jokingly called each other "honey" or "sweetie" or "dear" or even "babe", though I normally didn't when we were around a lot of people, I blush easily. Adding all of this together, some people used to think we were a threesome, and I mean in a sexual way. It stopped bothering us after a while, and everyone stopped thinking it when Kairi started dating her boyfriend. I think they did, anyways. I never did finalize that thought…

Wow my thoughts were scattered… So I simply sighed as I unpacked the last of my things into my dorm room. I nearly always got there before Kairi and Xion (who I happened to always room with. I think Kairi's parents had something to do with it) meaning I was the one who got the single bed, they got the bunk beds. Every single year.

I heard my phone ring and I reached for it, seeing an all too familiar name on the screen. I accepted to message and read it, an amused look on my face and I simply chuckled.

* * *

From: Kairi  
To: Naminé

Please tell me you haven't gotten to the room yet, Nami! Please!

* * *

I chuckled and sent her a reply quickly.

* * *

From: Naminé  
To: Kairi

Sorry, Kairi, I got here a while ago! I'm almost done unpacking, silly!

* * *

As I looked at my phone again, I noted that I had an unread text, so I opened it. I smiled when I noticed it was from Xion herself, but that wasn't exactly unexpected.

* * *

From: Xion  
To: Naminé

You're already in the room, aren't you, Naminé?

From: Naminé  
To: Xion

Yup. Sorry, Xion! You know I love you, regardless!

* * *

I locked my phone after I sent it, knowing that there was no point in responding to any more texts they would send, they were going to be here soon, anyways.

I heard my phone ring again and I simply glanced over and then smiled as I saw who was texting me, Roxas. Roxas was my best guy friend**;** we met back in seventh grade when he was a new student and I was assigned to show him around. Truthfully, we didn't get along much in the beginning, but after a while we started to become friends. A lot of girls like him, though, so it's partially awkward being around him. Girls glare at me all the time when he grabs my hand to drag me somewhere.

* * *

From: Roxas  
To: Naminé

Hey, are you at school yet? I want to see you!

* * *

My smile grew softer as I read his text**.** _I want to see you__**,**_ I echoed in my head, giggling slightly. … Before you say _anything__**,**_ I don't like Roxas, I swear. He's just a ladies' man anyways, as he loves flirting with girls. The text meant absolutely nothing.

* * *

From: Naminé  
To: Roxas

Yeah, I'm at the school. Just finished packing actually. I want to see you, too. Let's have everyone get together later on, kay?

* * *

Everyone meaning everyone else who was in our group of friends. Yes, I have more than three best friends, thanks.

There are seven of us, including me. There's Kairi**;** Xion**;** Roxas**;** Sora, who's Roxas' twin brother and Kairi's boyfriend and I met him with Kairi and Xion one day when we were at the arcade**;** Riku, Sora's best friend who was with Sora at the arcade that day**;** Axel, who's Roxas' best friend for life**;** and, of course, me! Together, the seven of us went to a boarding school together, Twilight Academy, situated a few miles outside of the beautiful Twilight Town. I was so happy that I had them as my friends… they were probably the best friends anyone could ask for!

My heard turned slightly when I heard a key wiggling in the door, and I plopped onto my bed, waiting expectantly for one of my roomies to barge in. When the door banged open loudly, in came Kairi _and_ Xion. I giggled and waved, "Hey, guys!"

They turned when they heard me speak and the door closed (forcefully because… well, it hit a wall and rebounded), Xion's subdued face broke out into smiles and they both basically tackled me onto my own bed. We rolled around a little bit until I got both of them off me, and we were lying down together, the two of them on either side of me. We broke into a sudden fit of giggles and I clasped my hands with the two of them and took a deep breath.

"We missed you Naminé! We agreed no more vacations ever again, unless we're all together like we usually are! Separate vacations are bad!" Kairi shouted before pulling me into a hug tight enough so that I could just barely breath.

"I-I missed you" a gasp for breath, "too! C-can I breath, now?" I choked out, struggling to get out of Kairi's death grip. I swear she could kill someone with her massive hugs of excitement.

Kairi snickered, "No, Naminé, you can't breath anymore!" to prove her point, she squeezed harder. I stared at Xion my eyes pleading for help, but she was just laughing. Traitor.

"K-Kairi!" I squeaked out and said girl giggled before letting me go, _finally_!

"Sorry!" she shouted, patting my head playfully, "You know how excited I get, though!"

Oh, yes, I really did know.

I punched her arm playfully (not like it would've hurt her, anyways), "Yeah, yeah, just unpack you two! We're meeting the boys later!"

They both laughed and nodded, turning around to unpack as I turned on my laptop and sat on my bed, patiently waiting for my two best friends to finish putting their stuff away.

When I turned on my computer, I stared at my screen for a second before opening my wonderful Internet, my homepage automatically being Facebook. Before you say _anything_ Kairi got me to make an account, and for the longest time it went unused. Then Kairi decided that she was going to set Facebook as my homepage, and she made sure that I always signed on, because she thought it was a waste having an account but not using it. Never quite got why, still.

E-Mail: iColor Password: crayons

As I signed on, my page was suddenly filled with updates, as expected. No matter how much Kairi harped at me, I never used Facebook during the summer. I stared at all the updates, and smiled at Roxas'. It was actually kind of sweet.

**Roxas Strife** is excited to see his friends again! Especially a certain blonde…

I blushed slightly at the sight. Was he trying to flirt with me or something? How weird, I never really expected him to flirt with me. I doubt he actually was, anyways, he was just being his normal self. So, pushing the thought aside, I glanced at the comments.

**Sora Strife **You're talking about Naminé**,** aren't you?  
**Riku Takahashi **Of course he is, Sora  
**Axel Kaji **Roxas has a crush! Roxas has a crush!  
**Roxas Strife **Shut UP**,** guys!

I snickered slightly and clicked on the comment box, quickly typing my own comment and sending it as soon as I finished typing.

**Naminé Nomura **Aww**,** don't tease him, Axel, that's not nice! And I'm excited to see you, too, Roxas!

I had just reread the comment when Kairi suddenly asked, "Is this year going to be _the_ year?" I made a little noise that normally meant that I had no idea what she was saying. She sighed and I felt my bed move a bit, knowing that she had flopped down on _my_ bed, "The year that you and Roxas get together, duh!"

I turned my head and gave my not-so-intimidating glare, "Kairi, shut up. We don't like each other like that, for crying out loud! We never have, never will. He's a heartbreaker, anyways… and all I'll allow us to be is friends, that's it."

"Who says that he wants it to stay that way?" Kairi sang out randomly, and my frowned deepened, "Naminé, think about it, he really seems to like you and everything… I mean, I know he's dated a _ton_ of girls and stuff… but you have to give him a chance if he asks you out, you know!"

I rolled my eyes at my red-headed best friend, "Who says he wants to ask me out in the first place?" I questioned before turning back to my computer and checking status updates quickly before we left to meet up with the boys.

**Axel Kaji **thinks that Roxas needs to admit his crush on a little blonde girl

I raised my eyebrow at this and shook my head, laughing inwardly. Axel was so silly; he always did stuff like that. It really didn't surprise me at all; he was just that friend that teased you mercilessly, no matter who you are and how much he likes you. That's who he was. I still glanced at the comments, wanting to see with there was anything amusing there.

**Roxas Strife **How many times do I need to tell you to SHUT UP?  
**Sora Strife **Awwwww, my little brother has a crush!  
**Riku Takahashi **Isn't Roxas older than you, Sora?  
**Sora Strife **Shut up, I can dream…  
**Roxas Strife **Shut it, Sora. This is where I wish a dislike button would be created, damn it.

I saw something below the status update change, so I glanced back up with an amused smile on my face. After reading what was there, the smile slid off my face and became a frown again.

**Kairi Nakamura **likes this

**Kairi Nakamura **I know, right, Axel? Same goes to Naminé!

I turned and glared at the red-head sitting atop the top bunk, who was sitting in front of her laptop giggling her head off, "Not funny, Kai-face!" I said, using the nickname the absolutely _hates_ before throwing a pillow at her head. She shrieked and dodged it, before throwing it back at me. I dodged the incoming pillow and it hit the wall, sliding down it onto my bed. My frown deepened into a scowl and I turned to my computer, clicking on the status update bar.

**Naminé Nomura** is declaring a pillow war!

And with that, I sent it, and not even five seconds later a pillow was launched at my head. I laughed and grabbed a pillow, chucking it at her head, which she deflected with another pillow.

After our little pillow war that Xion refused to be a part of (she just sat on her bed and shook her head at us, while laughing), I grabbed my key and phone and stuck them in my jean pocket, Kairi grabbed her purse, and Xion put on her tiny backpack and we finally left the room.

"Where are we meeting the boys again?" Xion asked as the walked down the halls of our building together.

"The normal spot, of course," I said, a smile gracing my face again.

Kairi laughed loudly, and said equally as loudly that she thought it was obvious and wondered why Xion even had to ask. Xion herself merely shrugged in return, and it was clear that she herself wasn't quite sure why she asked, either.

I laughed at their antics and pulled out my phone as I felt it vibrate in my pocket. I made a quick note in my mind that it was from Roxas, and figured that it was probably him asking where we were and when we were getting there.

I was right.

* * *

From: Roxas  
To: Naminé

Hey, where are you guys? When are you getting here? We're all here except you three!

* * *

I hit the reply button and quickly typed up my reply before sending it again.

* * *

From: Naminé  
To: Roxas

We're walking over right now. We should be there in about five minutes. Be there soon, so calm down, okay? Haha, just teasing you.

* * *

"Was that from Roxas?" Kairi suddenly asked and I just nodded, "What did it say?"

I gave her a look that just screamed 'seriously?' and explained that he was just wondering where we were and such things, and I noticed that Kairi looked a bit disappointed before striking up a conversation about how her vacation was.

You see, for our vacations, we all went back to the places we were born, rather than staying in Twilight Town or traveling together or whatever. Don't get me wrong, we had wanted to travel together, but out parents wanted their children to themselves for the summer. None of us can necessarily blame them; we were gone the whole school year and spend almost every moment of summer together, normally. But, anyways, Kairi went back to Radiant Garden, Xion left for Destiny Islands, and I myself returned to Traverse Town.

Kairi summarized her summer by saying, "It was fun, and I spend a fair bit of my time running around the city going shopping, though I hung out with my friends, Aerith, Yuffie, and Leon mainly. But it was highly repetitive after a while, honestly," she finished, rolling her eyes and shrugging her shoulders, "What about you, Xion?" she added.

Xion didn't speak for a few moments, before somewhat cheerfully stating, "I went to the beach nearly everyday, and mostly spent my time on a small island a little ways off from the mainland. I spent a lot of time with Tidus, Selphie, and Waka. Watched quite a bit of Blitz Ball… nothing too amazing, honestly," she finished before glancing at me, indicating it was my turn to share my summer story.

My slim hands messed with the hem of my shirt for a bit as I responded to the unspoken question, "Well… I didn't do that much… I drew a lot and spent some of my time with Rikku, Paine, and Yuna… that's just about it. A normal, boring summer."

"I still find it odd that you have another friend named Rikku, who has a completely different personality to boot!" Kairi exclaimed, probably having thought about that when I said my female friend's name, "I think it's a little ironic, don't you, Xion?"

Xion shrugged, "Riku isn't an uncommon name… not really, anyways. It isn't _that_ ironic, I believe."

I was about to say something else when a shout came from the general direction in front of us. I looked up and smiled brightly when I saw the guys sitting underneath a huge tree that was in the grassy area on campus. I laughed at Sora's antics when I saw him jump up and down, his amazingly spiky brown hair flopping everywhere, before simply resuming it's spiky form. I always wondered how it could possibly do that.

While Sora was hopping up and down, Riku was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, though they opened when Sora started shouting even louder, looking calm and collected as per usual. I didn't see Axel on the ground so I instinctively looked up into the tree, and sure enough, there he was, sitting on a tree branch waving at us. And then there was Roxas. He was sitting on the ground with his back against the tree, saying something, probably along the lines of 'shut up', to Sora.

The three of us sped up subconsciously as Axel jumped from the branch he was on, Riku pushed away from the tree, and Roxas stood up, brushing himself off. We all started walking towards each other slowly before speeding up more… and more… and more… until we were in a fast paced run, even me. I hate running.

Sora and Kairi were ahead of everyone, which was understandable because they were dating, and almost tackled each other to the ground. Well… more like Kairi jumped on Sora and he had been leaning forward to grab her, causing them to sway back and forth uncertainly before steadying themselves and kissing gently.

When I actually noticed them kissing, I slowed down slightly and blushed at the sight, only to be grabbed around my waist and pulled into a warm embrace. I knew by just the scent that it was Roxas who grabbed me, so I chuckled slightly and hugged him back, "Hey, Roxas," I said, lifting my head and smiling up at him. "It's nice to see you."

He smiled broadly back at me, "It's nice to see you, too, Naminé."

"Aww man, I get no one to hug me first!" came Axel's loud, gruff voice. I laughed again and untangled myself from Roxas, walking over to Axel and hugging him, since Xion was slightly distracted by Riku (they were talking about… something or other), and Kairi and Sora were still kissing.

"I'll be the first girl to give you a hug so far," I said and he chuckled, hugging me back. I could hear Roxas laughing behind me, as well.

"Not quite the same since Roxas grabbed you first, but whatever. I get a hug from blondie!" he said, unwrapping his arms around me and patting my head in a teasing manner.

I let my arms drop to my sides and smiled up at him before glancing at Kairi and Sora. I rolled my eyes, understanding that they hadn't seen each other in months, but this was ridiculous. I coughed really loudly to get their attention, and they tore apart, both blushing slightly.

"So… erm… where are we going?" Sora asked with a chuckle at the end.

I spared a fast glance at Riku and Xion, and they were paying attention so I shrugged, "I… don't know. Anyone have any ideas?"

Everyone was quiet for a little bit, before Roxas spoke up, "Well, it's getting kind of late… why don't we go out to dinner? We can each pay for our own thing, like we usually do."

Everyone else nodded, except for me. I lightly blushed, "I… didn't bring money with me like I normally would've…"

Roxas smiled at me and put his hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll pay for you." I started to sputter rejections to the idea, but he said, "It's only polite for the guy to pay for the lady's dinner. Don't worry, I can pay, Naminé! Just nothing too expensive," he winked playfully at me and I blushed all over again.

I stared down at my feet and muttered an okay. Even with my eyes on the ground, I would basically _see_ Kairi smirking knowingly at me. I _heard_ Sora and Axel laughing, but I think they were laughing mostly at Roxas… I hoped so, anyways. Riku and Xion were nice, they didn't laugh or anything.

At the place we were eating, there were coloring sheets for little kids, _plus_ the tablecloths had pieces of white butcher paper on them. My group, being the weird people are, demanded we all get crayons and pieces of papers. Well, I didn't actually say anything, they did. I mentally thanked them, though; I really wanted crayons, at least.

We were seated in one of those 'c' shaped booths, and I ended up sitting next to Kairi, with Xion on the other side of me and Roxas somewhat across from me. Sora sat next to Kairi and Riku next to Xion with Axel across from her.

Kairi almost immediately took out the red crayon of the small packet and started writing a massage in my line of view. Obviously, it was for me. I started to doodle as she did that, until she elbowed me – quite painfully, if I may add – in the side. My head snapped to her and I attempted to glare, but it didn't have too much of an affect, because she just pointed to the message, a smirk on her face. I frowned and looked at the message written in Kairi's loopy and neat handwriting.

Nami, Roxas has it _bad_ for you! It's so obvious now! You can't deny it, muhahaha! Just admit you like him and you guys can live happily ever after!

My frown transitioned into a scowl as I took out a blue crayon and wrote her a message in my small, curvy handwriting, as well.

_Kairi, stop it! He doesn't like me, he was just being a nice friend, that's all! And for the last time, I truly do not like him, okay?_

Kairi read the initial message and shook her head writing something out yet again. I felt Xion poke me in the arm, though, so I looked down at the paper again, noting that she wrote to me in black crayon.

**I'm sorry to say this, Naminé, but I have a feeling Roxas does like you. All the signs are there, you know…**

Kairi scribbled out what she was originally writing, and rewrote something else.

Thank you, Xion! At least you get it, unlike Miss Stubborn here! Naminé, he likes you. Get used to it.

_He doesn't like me. End of conversation!_

**Okay, Naminé.**

Oh just think about it!

_I said end of conversation! And I will not think about it, there's no point!_

BUT—

_No!_

"You girls seem to be scribbling furiously," Roxas said, obviously amused by my angry, embarrassed state and Kairi's annoyed, highly frustrated state. I could really blame him… our intense writing must've been amusing everyone, after all.

"J-Just a little… moment we were having…" I muttered before starting to doodle again.

Dinner resumed somewhat peacefully, with Sora joking around, Kairi lightening up, Roxas and Axel making fun of… whatever they were thinking about, and Xion and Riku talking happily. I listened to my friends speak, allowing an odd feeling of calm to wash over me as I continued sketching.

When we got back to the dorm, I immediately walked towards the bathroom, "I'm going to shower first, okay?" I called behind me as I walked into our somewhat nice bathroom. I heard the other two mutter 'yes's as I closed the door behind me and locked it.

I stripped myself of my clothing and turned on the shower. I waited for it to heat up before stepping in and letting the warm water wash over me, small droplets hitting my shoulders, back, and skull.

As I hummed, I couldn't help but think back to what Kairi and Xion said. About Roxas liking me. I just couldn't believe it… it was, honestly, very hard to believe. I'm a Plain Jane, nothing too special about me in my eyes. In addition, I knew Roxas very well. The way he acts around girls he likes is stoic… he tends to come off as jerkish and rude. He's being sweet and kind to me, so it honestly didn't make sense for him to ever like me.

With that, as I scrubbed in my shampoo, I finalized my thoughts with a simple 'he doesn't like me'. I was perfectly fine with that. I don't like Roxas; he's my best guy friend for crying out loud! Can't a girl and a guy be friends without having people bother them about dating? Apparently not, and I was a little disappointed about it.

After washing out my strawberry scented shampoo and my vanilla scented conditioner out of my hair, I stepped out and wrapped a towel around myself. I walked out of the bathroom and pulled out my clothing from my separate drawer of clothing, one of three. I walked back into the bathroom before Kairi could teasingly start whistling at me, and changed quickly into light blue shorts and a white tank top. I hung my towel after getting my hair as dry as it was going to go with using just a towel, and walked back into the main room, "Whoever's next, your turn," I called out before sitting on my bed and grabbing my laptop.

"Me, me!" Kairi shouted and ran into the bathroom, "Jeez, Naminé, it's a freaking sauna in here! You take way too hot showers!"

I rolled my eyes. You'd think she'd be used to that, but nope, she still wasn't, after living with me for years, "Just wait for the room to cool down then, Kairi!"

There was a loud nope and the door shut, leaving Xion and I sitting on our beds. Xion was reading a book as I opened up my laptop and turned it on. The black-haired girl and I sat in a comfortable silence as I opened up my Internet.

Instead of just one tab popping up, though, two of them did. One was Facebook, and the other tag said… 'Swirls of Pink'. I raised my eyebrow at the name and clicked on it. Kairi probably got on my computer and added that as a homepage, knowing her. I blinked, slightly shocked when I saw a blog that was tastefully colored different shades of pink, but not just any tastefully pink blog. It was Kairi's blog. Honestly, it wasn't too surprising… she is Kairi, after all.

I looked at the first (and, as of now, only) blog there, and sighed, deciding to read it. She was my best friend, and if she was making me read it, there was no doubt in my mind that everyone else had to read it, too.

Before I read the actual blog, though, I decided to read her 'About Me' section.

**About Me:**

Hi there! I'm Kairi Strife! This is a private site, so anyone reading this knows what school I go to! I'm 16, and my two best friends in the entire world are Xion and Naminé! I have an adorable boyfriend named Sora, and three other best friends, Axel, Riku, and Roxas! I'm not a fan of school, to be completely honest, but this entire blog will be about just that, school, and the drama that goes along with it! See you there!

I chuckled, it was just like Kairi to have us in her 'About Me' section. As stuck up as Kairi may or may not seem, she cares deeply for all of us, and includes us in everything. She really is a sweet girl! I simply smiled and turned my attention to the actual blog portion of the website.

Title: 4 Boys, 3 Girls, 2 Semesters, 1 School Year  
Mood: Excited  
Listening To: "The Salt Water Room" – Owl City  
Eating: Lays!  
Location: Dorm Room!

Hey everyone! I just moved back into my dorm earlier today, and classes start the day after tomorrow! Today I met up with my BFFs Xion and Naminé, we had much fun! Nami and I had a short pillow war, because I annoyed her with my Facebook post, tee hee!

Afterwards, though, we met up with the guys. I was so excited to see Sora we almost fell over by the sheer force of out collision! We kissed for a good… few minutes or so. Don't worry, it was just straight up kissing! We were separated by Naminé, who had coughed loudly enough to ruin our sweet moment. Don't be jealous Nami, you'll find Mr. Right very soon (he's so much closer than you think)!

And, Axel, I'm sorry about totally not hugging you! My boyfriend comes first, sorry! Haha, I'll give you a hug next time I see you!

After that, we all went out to eat, and there were pieces of butcher paper on the tables! And crayons! CRAYONS! I was so excited! Nami, Xion, and I had a short writing war about a certain blonde boy liking Naminé, but were stopped by that certain boy (cough, cough Roxas cough, cough). After, we had a nice, as peaceful as a group can get, dinner. Although, it wasn't that peaceful when Axel "accidentally" threw a roll at our super rude server, and Riku tripped him out of spite! Too much fun, too much fun!

Tomorrow we should be getting our schedules, which I'm psyched about! I just know I'll have at least one class with each of my friends! Haha, I may dislike school, but I definitely don't dislike classes with my friends! Especially when I get to pull random pranks with Axel, or pass notes with Xion and Naminé, or be forced to study in Study Hall by Riku, or "secretly" holding hands with Sora! Oh man, I love my friends!

That's just about all for now, everyone! See you in my next blog (which should be tomorrow)!

Love,  
Kairi

Comments:

**Axel**  
Nah, it's okay, you need time with you boyfriend! But you better give me a hug like you promised, got it memorized? But when I hit that guy in the head, haha! The look on his face was priceless!

**Roxas**  
How many times do I have to say I don't like her? Today was a lot of fun, though; we have to do it again soon, which I know we will!

**Sora**  
Haha, our moment was sweet, wasn't it? Love you, Kairi!

**Xion**  
You're so weird, Kairi! It's awesome you created a blog though.

**Riku**  
That guy was way too rude. He deserved a roll to the head and a face-floor collision.

I shook my head and typed up my own comment in response to the blog.

**Naminé**  
Again, he doesn't like me, Kairi! Get that through your head! But, like Roxas said, today was a lot of fun! I was seriously about to throw a crayon at out server, but the crayon didn't deserve it, haha!

* * *

I could just tell this school year was going to be awesome.

Well, at least, I hoped it was going to be. You know what they say, it's always calm before a storm.

_

* * *

_

_A/N: I know, I haven't uploaded anything in a long time, and this is most certainly not the story I promised you guys, but I've been working on this chapter slowly for the past few months, and I suddenly got the urge to complete it. And then my friend and I came up with a plot for it and... well... it's going to be finished. Nothing else for a while, I'm sorry! This is just center stage right now for some reason... this story over all interests me a lot. Let's see where I can take it._

_Yes, it is another High School AU story, which I'm aware most people aren't too fond of... but I simply adore them. I can't help it... maybe I'll write a somewhat IU story some day if people really want me to. Depends on if I ever get the actual inspiration for it._

_- Rei_

____

Sora and Kairi are too sickeningly cute. I'm glad

I_'m not their best friend, 'cause then I'd actually have to see it... gag. Haha, and Kairi uses exclamation points like they're going out of style, no? Too peppy, that girl. _

_~Grey_

_Review!_


	2. Keep Me Safe

The next day I was woken up by Kairi jumping up and down on my bed excitedly, yelling something about getting down to the student lounge to get our schedules for this coming year. I groaned and muttered something like "Five more minutes," but it came out more like "Fif mwr mintes" for some reason. With that, Kairi started jumping on me and shaking my shoulders vigorously. Yeah, that definitely woke me up.

"Come on! I really, really want to know my schedule, and I know you want to know, too!" she shouted, still shaking me like a madwoman. Then again, she was a bit crazy… and scared people at times. How… incredibly scary…

I glanced at the clock as she stopped shaking me and my mouth dropped open. It was 7:30 am. It's not like I hated waking up early, it's that Kairi herself normally despised waking up early. "Kairi… what the heck? You hate waking up early!" She must really be excited if she woke up this early.

Kairi rolled her eyes, "Nami, you know how I get! I must know my schedule! And, plus, I talked to Sora last night" (Was that supposed to be shocking?) "We made a plan for everyone to meet up again to compare schedules! Aren't you excited?" she squealed the last part and I couldn't help but smile.

My smile turned into a giggle, "Yeah, yeah, I am excited. Can you get off of me, though, Kairi?" Kairi laughed and jumped off of me, waltzed over to my drawer, pulled out an outfit, and threw it at me. I stared at it and noted that she grabbed light wash shorts that were torn up, creamy yellow converse, with a light yellow tank top and a white short sleeved hoodie. I sighed and got up, just changing into the outfit as Xion walked out in a strapless purple top that ended just past her hips, black shorts, black ballet flats, and a black hoodie. I could tell Kairi choose that out for her, too.

I brushed my teeth before brushing my hair gently and throwing it over my shoulder like I normally do. I personally thought it looked best that way, because of the natural curl it had at the end. Kairi, apparently, had different plans for me today. She simply insisted that I put it up in a ponytail for once, and I just complied. I could always take it down later on.

When Kairi was finally finished getting changed into her white button up shirt, pink shorts, and pink knee-high converse, she grabbed her purse and threw colored pencils in there before running out of the room and shouting, "Hurry up!" over her shoulder.

Xion shook her head and sighed, "We're going to do that again, aren't we?" she said as she began walking.

I followed her and laughed lightly. "Most likely. It is tradition after all, we can't break tradition, now can we?" I teased, nudging the black haired girl in the side. She giggled and nodded, agreeing with me silently. We talked lazily as we followed Kairi, who was still yelling about us hurrying up since we were still walking somewhat slowly to her. To us, we were walking normally.

We finally got down to the student center, and Kairi was already getting her schedule in the 'L-O'. I headed over there as well, and Xion separated from me, going to the 'D-F' line.

The lines were short, due to the fact that it was early; I glanced at the 'R-T' line, and noticed Roxas getting his schedule. He looked up and over to me, as if knowing I was there without actually looking prior to this moment. He smiled at me and waved, and I did the same to him. Then he walked away, probably meeting up with the boys to go to our tree.

The moment Kairi actually got her schedule, she nearly sprinted to the other side of the room, jumping up and down near the doors, an envelope in her hand. We never opened the envelopes until all seven of us were together, another special tradition we had. It builds suspense, after all!

After around a minute or so, I was handed my own white envelope with my name printed neatly in the top right hand corner. I bowed, thanking the teacher sitting behind the desk, and walked towards the door, where Kairi and, now, Xion were standing, waiting for me.

"Come on, Nami! I really want to see my schedule!" Kairi shouted as I came closer to them. The moment I was within an arm's length away, Kairi turned and took off running, a little too excited for my comfort zone. I shook my head, chuckling lightly under my breath, before starting to walk with Xion yet again.

We talked idly again as we stepped outside into the morning sunlight. My ponytail swung back and forth as I walked, and it felt a little funny to me. I was so used to my hair down and over my shoulder… though, I had to admit, the back of my neck felt nice now that my pale blonde hair wasn't heating it up all the time.

By the time we actually reached the tree, Kairi tugged both of us forcefully down, and basically threw (I just changed it so there was emphasis on the "threw") hard-backed books at us in her excitement. There were colored pencils in the middle of our slightly misshapen circle, and I grabbed the light blue one, Xion grabbed the black one, and Sora had the red one, Kairi the pink one, Axel the orange one, Riku the silver one, and Roxas had a gray one.

"Okay… who starts the countdown?" she said, looking like she was about to absolutely burst with excitement.

"Oh, I will, I will!" Sora shouted, waving his hand around, "Okay… three… two… one… open!" he yelled the last part, and we all opened the envelopes at almost the same exact time.

After a good two or three minutes of quickly memorizing each of our schedules, we started to pass them around the circle. We each marked and commented on where we shared a class together. This lasted for about thirty minutes, us sitting in mostly silence, snickering and giggling occurring every so often, with the scratching of colored pencils against paper keeping the minor silence company.

When my schedule got back to me, I immediately immersed myself in reading what my friends had written on it, very excited to see who was in what class with me.

Name: Naminé Nakamura Student ID Number: 131548

Kairi! _**Riku.**_ **Sora!** _Roxas(Why are we doing this again)?__**Axel (got it memorized?)!**_ **Xion**

1st Period: Pre-Calculus – Leonhart, Squall

Oh man, Pre-Calculus first period… I feel for you, Naminé!  
_**Then you'll feel bad for me, too. I have the same class as her, Kairi.**_  
**Aw, Riku, Nami, that just… that sucks!  
**_Nice sympathy there, Sora, but I feel for you, Naminé! I heard that Leonhart is super strict._  
_**Algebra = Bad, got it memorized?**_  
**Algebra isn't that bad, Axel…**

2nd Period: Honors English 3 – Saix, Isa

I can't believe you're taking honors! I heard Saix is a stiff! Good luck with that!  
_**I have him for a different period. He honestly doesn't sound that bad…**_  
**Have fun with that, Naminé!**  
_I took regular English 3… sorry, Naminé!_  
_**Mmm, same as Roxas previously said! Good luck!**_  
**Don't worry, Naminé, I have that class with you!**

3rd Period: World History – Mouse, Mickey

Ohh, I heard he's a pushover! You really should enjoy that class!  
_**I had him for a class last year. He's a really nice teacher, one of my personal favorites. I have a feeling you'll like that class.**_  
**This is where I come in! All right!**  
_Aww, just barely missed you. I have that same exact class 2nd period!_  
_**Not much to say here, dude, but you probably will have fun in there!**_  
**I had him for something last year, too. His class is enjoyable to the extreme!**

4th Period: Art – Valentine, Yuffie

I heard she's a complete spazz! You should have much fun in that class, honestly!  
_**Not a surprise you're taking art, not a surprise at all.**_  
**I thought you said you weren't going to take art again?  
**_Yeah, what Sora said. Something about too many notes and not enough actual art?_  
_**Eh, everyone knows she'll get a 100 in that class anyways. She's too good not to!**_  
**Seems like you have this class alone, Naminé! But you'll still love it, I'm sure.**

5th Period: PE – Hercules

Dude, Mr. Hercules is awesome! I know you hate this class and everything, but, honestly, it's awesome! And, yes, Hercules is his only name…  
_**He's a nice guy. His assistant, though… really pushy. Be careful with him.**_  
**I have him a period after you!**  
_I have that class with you, Naminé!_  
_**So do I! PE buddies, yeah! Don't worry, Naminé, Roxas and I will protect you from dodge balls!**_  
**We all know you hate PE, Naminé, but at least you have it with Roxas and Axel, right?**

6th Period: Chemistry – Vexen, Even

Aw… no class together… I heard Vexen is a bit of a nut, though…  
_**Mmm, this class shouldn't be too difficult. I advise to take a lot of notes, that's what my upperclassmen friends told me.**_  
**Chemistry, ew…**  
_Stop complaining, Sora… I have that class with you, too!  
__**Awww, man, I wish I had that class with you! It definitely would've been more fun with me in there, you know it!**_  
**Maybe a little too fun, Axel.**

7th Period: Journalism – Flora, Marluxia

Hey, we do have a class together! Yay!  
_**I took journalism last year. Marluxia is… weird beyond you're wildest dreams. He's apparently straight, though. And asks you to call him Mr. Marluxia, not Flora.**_  
Oh man, I've heard stuff about him! Didn't he chase after a female student last year?_  
Since when were you into gossip, Sora? But he is a little scary. Though he's a good teacher from what I've heard. It's a blow off class, trust me._  
_**Oh, I've met him. He's… interesting… I'm honestly not a fan of him. Have fun, Naminé!**_  
**I've heard that rumor was untrue, Sora, so don't worry, Naminé. You should have fun in journalism!**

As I read through all the scribbled notes on my paper, I couldn't help but smile uncontrollably. My friends were hilarious, and I loved every single one of them. I was glad I had at least one class with each of them, and two classes with Roxas! This year's schedule wasn't even that bad, and I didn't mind Pre-Calculus early in the morning. I just needed to make sure I was awake, but I was sure that Riku would help with that. Being in art by myself wasn't too bad, anyways, even though this year was probably going to primarily be notes, yet again. I hoped it wasn't going to be…

I laughed and put my paper down on the envelope next to me before leaning back on my elbows and surveying my friends sitting in a circle. "Everyone happy with their schedules this year?" I asked, knowing full well that somebody may or may not complain about something or other.

I was pleasantly surprised that I received a chorus of 'yes's, but I didn't complain. I was glad my friends were happy with their schedules.

"So what're we going to do today?" Axel asked before lying down on the grass, his hands folded behind his head.

At that question we sat mainly in silence, before Kairi suddenly spoke up. "How about… we go to Twilight Town and walk around? That'd be fun! And we can to a little bit of shopping, too!" I groaned mentally at the thought of shopping, and I know everyone else did, too. "I promise I won't go overboard, okay?" she said, donning a puppy-dog look on her face.

Oh dear, not that…

Riku flinched at the cuteness and looked away. "Why do we need to go shopping anyways? We have uniforms, Kairi!" he said. I looked at his hand to see him clenching and unclenching his fists. He was so funny, honestly. He was obviously struggling against the pure cuteness of Kairi's puppy-dog stare.

Kairi frowned for a moment, breaking the concentration she had previously, "Well… what about the weekends? And come on, you don't have to buy anything; I just want to walk around town! Please? Please? Please?"

Riku sighed, shaking his head. "Okay… fine, we'll go. Is everyone okay with that?" We all nodded and stood up, Kairi jumping up and down, obviously excited.

She's as excited as an energetic puppy in a new home.

My auburn-haired best friend loved going into town, it was one of her favorite pastimes. The bright lights when we stayed long enough, the stores, and the smell of delicious food when we passed by a vendor or a restaurant whose doors were opened. The thought made me smile, as well. I couldn't help it, so many amazing, hilarious things have happened in town between our group. It made my heart fill with absolute joy.

We all decided to walk to town, though, since it was so early in the morning. We weren't even that far from Twilight Town, so it wasn't going to be that bad. Especially with all of us here, nothing ever got boring when us seven were together. Even if we were all sitting in silence, none of us were bored, I knew that for a fact.

When we were walking down the road on the sidewalk installed for students specifically, Axel decided to pick up a handful of pebbles and chuck one at every passing car. Why, I have absolutely no idea. He probably just wanted to cause some trouble… and then Kairi started doing it, too, so now two pebbles were being thrown at every passing by car.

I swear someone was about to pull over and scream in our faces for being to disrespectful and blah, blah, blah, blah. I doubt any of us would've listened to the ranting anyways. Don't get me wrong, we're good students, but some of us have a tendency to not listen to our elders very often. It normally stops at our parents and teachers (and in Axel's case, just his parents), because we find no exact reason to be polite to people we don't know. I mean… I'm shy, so I would've just stared down at my feet, but Kairi may have taken it far enough to gently throw a pebble at whoever was shouting at us.

She's lovely, isn't she?

Or would Axel do that? I'm not sure anymore…

Sometimes I wonder why they didn't date each other. Then I remember that Axel doesn't really date, and Kairi has basically been in love with Sora for a really long time, and the feelings are mutual. Plus, if they dated, the school might've gone down in flames, or something like that.

All of a sudden I felt something hit me in the back of the head and I turned around, starting to walk backwards, as dangerous as that was for me. I saw Roxas whistling innocently (yeah, right) with both his arms behind him.

Great, Roxas joined the dark side.

Or had he always been there?

I shook my head and turned back around, deciding to let him do whatever he wanted, as long as I didn't end up in a comatose state thanks to tiny rocks hitting me in the back of the head. Being in a comatose state would make me miss my friends, after all, and I wouldn't want to do that. And what if I ended up like that man who could hear people while in that comatose state, but couldn't do anything about it?

I'd die.

And hopefully come back to life.

As I heard three pebbles hit a car, my phone vibrated. I took it out while shaking my head at my more troublesome friends, because for once Sora was behaving–

Never mind. Four pebbles just hit a car.

I sighed gently and glanced down at the screen before unlocking it and reading the message quickly. It was from my friend Zexion, who I barely hung out with but still managed to keep a good relationship with. His personal best friends were two other people whose names escape me all of a sudden, after all. Sometimes we (Zexion and I) would go to the library together to study when our other friends didn't want to go to the library (which was most of the time).

**From:** Zexion  
**To:** Naminé

What period do you have Honors English III and Art? I have them 2nd and 4th (respectively).

**From:** Naminé  
**To:** Zexion

I have the same classes with you, yay!

**From:** Zexion  
**To:** Naminé

That's great, I'll see you in class.

**From:** Naminé  
**To:** Zexion

See you in class!

I locked my phone again, putting it back in the pocket where it belonged.

"Nami, who was that?" Kairi asked while carefully tossing a pebble, hitting some guys windshield before walking closer to me, her elbow nudging my side gently. There was a playful look on her face, since I rarely ever received texts while with the six of them, because… well, the six of them sent me texts the most.

I shrugged slightly, "It was just Zexion, that's all," I answered calmly. Kairi had met Zexion a few times, and she had deemed him "hot" nearly the moment she saw him. Even I had to admit, Zexion was fairly attractive, even if he was short. He was taller than me, but still short compared to Axel and Riku. Then again… a lot of people were considered short compared to them…

Kairi's eyes lit up all of a sudden, and I was a little afraid of what she was going to say. "Oh, really? What was the text about?" When I told her it was about two classes we had together she giggled slightly, "Ohh, someone else might have a crush on you, Naminé!"

I looked at her like she has two heads and blushed faintly. "How does a text say that? Kairi, are you okay? I know you're excited and everything but you're acting a little weirder than usual, to be honest with you…"

Kairi rolled her eyes. "I'm teasing you, Naminé! But you're blushing! Do you have a crush on him?"

Okay, now she was just being silly. I voiced the thought to her and added as an extra reinforcement, "Zexion and I are just friends, honestly. There is nothing going on between us, honestly!" My best friend is so weird, I swear.

Xion was suddenly on the other side of me, and added, "You don't even know Zexion that well, Kairi, and you almost never see him and Naminé together. You're just being weird now. I think the overall excitement has gone to your head… we're not getting Heartbucks today, because of that."

Kairi pouted, "Come on, I'm just teasing! And no Heartbucks? Are you trying to kill me, Xion? Come on, please?"

They bantered back and forth about whether or not to get Heartbucks, as Kairi threw pebbles still and I just laughed at them. It was fairly rare for Xion to be included in a verbal fight, but they were always humorous.

I glanced at my friends and saw Riku talking to the boys about something. Apparently he said something that made Axel bust out laughing, Sora nearly fall over, and Roxas shake his head, probably with a goofy smile on his face.

I've probably already said it, but I have the best friends ever.

When we got into town, there were plenty of people walking around already, since it was an early Sunday and that was normally when the prices were the best. There were mothers dragging their small children around, giving them stern looks when the small hands reached for sweets and such. Teens from the local high school were running around and playing random pranks for some reason, and I even saw some couples walking around together.

We all walked around, teasing each other and making random jokes as we passed by countless people of all types, blondes, brunettes, red-heads, tan, pale, etc. It was like a normal day for us, just being together and walking around. It was what most weekends were like for us, and I was perfectly fine with it being that way. I'd rather it not change until we're out of the Academy, at least.

Our first stop was a Heartbucks, since Kairi won the argument (either that or Xion just gave up after a while of the auburn-haired girl's persistence, I wasn't truly paying attention after a while). We walked into the popular café, not particularly surprised by the line that was already there. It still was worth waiting, so we stood around and chatted some more, continuing as we were before we walked through the doors.

When we finally all got our drinks (it was roughly twenty minutes later), Kairi nearly sprinted out of the story, shouting for us to follow her. I could feel a wave of unease pass through all of us as we followed the pink clad girl through the crowds and such. Each of us knew that Kairi wouldn't go too overboard, but she tended to get close enough to scare us a little.

We were dragged through stores, random clothing items being thrown at us. Xion and I stayed closest to Kairi, because we were the most used to it even if we weren't fans of shopping. Neither of us truly minded to the point where we groaned every time she dragged us into a shop. Out loud, anyways. All of us tried to keep the complaining to the minimum, though, we still had a lot of fun together, especially when Kairi tried to get the boys to try on girl's clothing for some reason. Probably just as a joke. I hope so, anyways.

When we were finally exiting the last store, laughing and joking around, I suddenly heard one laugh stop, and it was one of the ones that stood out to me the most. I turned around and saw that Roxas had stopped walking and was staring randomly at a crowd of people. I walked over to him and touched his arm gently, "R… Roxas?" I hesitantly called out his name, not wanting to surprise him. He looked extremely concentrated. I followed his line a vision before he could turn his head towards me and only saw one thing that stood out in the crowd, a fast flash of blue hair. I shook my head, dismissing the thought, I must've just seen something.

"… Huh?" came Roxas' delayed reply.

I turned back to him, putting my hand on his arm. "You spaced out there; are you okay?" I asked gently, ignoring the stares from our friends.

Roxas shook his head quickly and smiled again. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just saw something that caught my attention, that's all," he laughed nervously and scratched his cheek gently, indicating the embarrassment.

I giggled slightly, "Nice one, Roxas. Don't go ADD on us, will you?" I said teasing. He laughed in response and grabbed the hand that was resting on his arm and started running towards our friends, dragging me along for the ride, which I hadn't been completely prepared for. I had let out a yelp of shock, but I highly doubt that Roxas actually heard it, since he didn't slow down at all.

When we caught up with our friends, he didn't let go of my hand, which Kairi was hyper aware of, I'm sure. Especially since I could feel her staring at me. I blushed a soft red and wiggled my hand slightly to indicate that I wanted him to let go, as we began walking. I blushed more when he decided he wasn't going to let go. I didn't want to be rude so I brought my other hand down and detangled our hands gently. I kept my head down as I caught up with Kairi, who was straining her arm backwards to hold Sora's hand, since Sora wanted to talk with the guys, and Xion. I could hear Kairi snickering at me, and I just kept staring at my shoes.

I listened intently to what Roxas was saying rather than participating in whatever Kairi and Xion were talking about, paying close attention to his manner of speech. It was a little off than usual, and he still sounded distracted. Whatever he saw must've really surprised or shocked or even scared him for some reason. When the guys would wait for him to say something, he'd wait somewhere around a few seconds to say whatever had to be said, and he wasn't even that active in the conversation. Now, Roxas wasn't as much of a talker as Sora, but he usually talked more than Riku, at least. I wanted to ask, but I didn't. I really didn't want to pry because it wasn't like me.

When we got back to the school we all hugged and said our good byes (I think Roxas hugged me longer than usual, but then again maybe I was analyzing him a little too much) before going our separate ways. Kairi was still snickering while we walked down the halls and Xion was even a little amused. That certainly didn't help my blushing.

The moment our door opened to the dorm, I nearly bolted for the shower, not wanting to talk about anything just yet. Due to this, I ended up taking a really long shower until the point where Kairi was banging on my door telling me to hurry up before I wasted all the hot water. I frowned slightly and turned off the water at that point, taking my sweet time getting dressed. Again, Kairi was going to pry and even though Xion won't actually help, she wouldn't help me either.

Kairi and Xion were manifesting by my bed when I opened the door, of course. They stared at me expectantly and I sighed, giving up and sitting on the bed as well. Kairi scooted closer, suddenly eager to ask me questions and for me to give the answers.

Lovely.

"Why did he zone out? What did you say to him? Why was he holding your hand?" she was firing questions at me, and I felt like I was a suspect for a murder case or something.

I frowned slightly and blushed again, "He zoned out because he saw something that distracted him. All I asked him was what was wrong. He was holding my hand so we could catch up to you guys faster. End of story," I said mostly with ease.

Kairi gave me a suspicious look. "He would've dropped your hand immediately when you guys caught up with us, then. It was obvious that he was holding your hand because he wanted to, not because he had to. Come on, Naminé, use that genius brain of yours! He likes you!"

My blue eyes rolled upwards, "I'm using my 'genius' brain. He doesn't like me, and I don't like him. End of story."

Kairi opened her mouth again but Xion shook her head. "Leave it alone, Kairi. If she thinks he doesn't like her then let her believe it. It's not that bad anyways, it may just be a fact. Now go take a shower."

Kairi pouted at Xion's blunt statement, but did as she was told and stood up, grabbing her towel and walking into the bathroom.

"Don't worry about her," Xion said kindly. "She's just… excited. She really wants you two to like each other." I mentally asked why. Seemed like she was in my head today. "Because, she thinks you two are perfect together, which I cannot deny that you two do seem perfect for each other. He's Roxas. You're Naminé. None of that will change."

She was right… I hoped, though for some reason something told me it would change-but then again, why would it? "Okay, Xion. I'm not going to comment on the perfect part, but okay." She gave me a smile and went over to her bed, allowing me to turn on my laptop again.

As my Internet loaded, I decided to click on the Swirls of Pink tab first, just to read the blog quickly. And, low and behold, there was a new entry. Though I couldn't help but wonder how everyone found the website… Kairi wouldn't have texted them about it, I'm sure, because then I would've gotten the text. I would've gotten an e-mail, too. I haven't heard her talking about it, either…

* * *

Title:

Remember Kids, Always Throw Stuff at Cars on the Road  
Mood: Curious as heck, man!  
Listening to: "Lollipop" - Big Bang ft 2NE1  
Eating: Pocky! Much love  
Location: Dorm room, of course

Today was FUN. Like, more than fun, it was amazing! I got my schedule, and got to go into town with my friends, but much better can you get than that? Seriously. I bet no one else out there has such awesome friends as me!

My schedule is pretty cool this year, which makes me happy. My classes are well placed and I have a class with everyone in my group! I'll keep it a surprise for those of whom who aren't in my best friend circle, because it's just better that way (sorry!). As per usual, we sat under our tree (our beautiful tree) and marked on each other's schedules in colored pencil. It's tradition!

Afterwards we decided to walk to town, and that was when the real fun started. Sora, Roxas, Axel, and I all picked up handfuls of pebbles and started throwing them at passing cars. Yes, I know it's dangerous, but it was hilarious! It made me happy inside, being able to cause trouble with my trouble-making friends. Of course, Naminé, Xion, and Riku stood off to the side and shook their heads at us, but I love them anyways! Xion and I even had a fight about whether or not to get Heartbucks (which I won, of course!).

By the time we got into town, it was later in the morning and there were people everywhere, as we expected. We stopped by Heartbucks and got our drinks, before I dragged everyone shopping, which was enjoyable (for me at least). At one point I even tried to get the guys to were girls' clothing (which was a joke… or was it?)! I don't believe anyone actually bought anything, but it was fun picking out outfits, and Naminé and Xion even starting participating at some point (ha, your guys' secret is out!).

As we were walking out of the final store to get home, Roxas suddenly stopped, distracted by something (what were you staring at anyways?). All of us stared at him and Naminé walked over, asking him some stuff. When Roxas snapped out of it he grabbed her hand and ran over to us. And he kept holding her hand! I was squeeing in side. I really was. Of course, the two blondies will deny everything. Party poopers…

And that virtually wraps up today! See you guys in my next blog!

With much love,  
Kairi

Comments:

**Riku:**  
I think you almost gave this one guy a heart attack when you threw that pebble at his car… you guys really shouldn't do that kind of stuff, but I have to admit I threw a pebble or two. I guess the shopping wasn't too bad… it was really just that you wanted us to wear feminine clothing.

**Olette:**  
Wow, sounds like you guys had fun! We have to go out again some time soon, okay? I'll text you when I'm open!

**Axel:**  
Psh, throwing tiny rocks at incoming cars is awesome. If only I could've thrown flaming rocks, but I might have actually gotten arrested or sued for that. And, no feminine clothing, please. Though, I have to say, I was confused when Roxas suddenly stopped talking and moving, too. But, alas, it is true, Naminé and Roxas were holding hands! They're growing up so fast!

**Sora:**  
Throwing rocks is fun! But, Kairi, putting us in girl's clothing is not, like the other guys have already said. I didn't even get why Roxas stopped though, and he's my twin!

**Xion:**  
Mhm, today was fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The walk was somewhat calm… I guess. Heartbucks tasted good (don't say anything about the actual fight, please, Kairi). Shopping was okay. Don't pester Roxas and Naminé too much, Kairi!

**Roxas:**  
It was nothing, okay? I was just distracted by something and I was wondering whether or not I wanted it… it was nothing. And the holding hands thing… I just forgot I was holding her hand. Big deal. Let it go… it was nothing, I say again, so don't pry.

* * *

I decided it was better for me not to comment this time, and checked on my Facebook and such before closing my laptop and grabbing my sketchbook and pencils. Drawing would be a good end to this mostly good day. But, everything seemed a little too calm for my own liking. Something felt a little fake about this scene. I can just see the stormy clouds beginning to form at the very horizon of my clear, blue, happy sky. I just hoped that nothing too bad was going to happen...

* * *

_A/N: I'm having a lot of fun writing this! Oh, did anyone catch my pairing hinting in this story (No, not the obvious RokuNami or SoKai or Rion, you silly heads)? Let me give you a hint to it: It's a Final Fantasy VII pairing! A fairly popular one at that..._

_Anyhow, nothing good can last forever, and things are going to start turning bleak for Naminé and the gang soon. What's going to happen? I can't really tell you that, now can I? Haha, sorry! But if you want a tiny hint to what's going to happen, then maybe I'll give you one, if you PM me :]_

_Oh, I don't think I mentioned this before, but this story's inspiration comes from a Paramore songs in general, because I just love them!_

_B/N: High school stories are so fun sometimes. Especially when the characters have much worse problems than you do. It's refreshing, to say the least. Then again, there aren't many problems in this story yet... keyword "yet". I'm looking forward to those clouds..._

_~Grey_

_Review!_


	3. All We Know

"Why do we have to have Pre-Calculus first thing in the morning again?" I groaned as I rubbed my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time since I woke up. The stupid sand-whatever things in my eyes wouldn't go away. And, I normally wasn't one to complain, but Kairi wanted to talk a lot the night prior)wasn't particularly complaining about that, since it was mostly about Riku and Xion) and we all went to bed late. Of course, Kairi was the last one up that morning, since she's a tad of a lazy person no matter how energetic she may seem. I love her, but it's horrible waking her up, seriously. Let's say I basically had to push her off of her bed.

And, of course, she slept on the top bunk.

Hey, it wasn't like I wanted to push her off her bed, she just wouldn't get up. I gave her a fair warning, in my defense. I mean, seriously… I don't want to kill my best friend; it's just not even Xion could get her up so I pushed her. There's no way I was letting her miss a part of the very first day of our junior year. That'd be horrible!

After nearly bruising my best friend and helping her up, she glared at me and stomped off to the bathroom. I think I preferred Kairi waking up before me, and I'm sure Xion felt the same way. Kairi was… scary when she was woken up early for school. When she woke up for anything but it, she was a little less deadly. I feel bad for Sora if they ever really live together. Sora's a morning person… and a afternoon person… and a night person… he's just pretty happy unless you tell him something bad happened to one of his friends. Then he gets a little depressed. But otherwise, he's quite the happy camper.

But, here I am now, sitting in my short-sleeved button up blouse with a zipped up orange vest over it a black skirt lying on my legs. In addition to this, Kairi all but threw balled up knee-high black socks and somehow hard flats at my head, so I ended up having to wear those, too. Not that I actually minded, of course… it was September and a little bit chilly.

But I was pulled out of my fast thoughts when Riku shrugged and replied to my question. "Ask the administration, not me. I'm not particularly pleased, either, but I'd rather not really complain…"

As my head fell forward and collided with my desk (a not too pleasant feeling, I assure you) the door to the classroom slammed open, making my head snap up (can someone say whiplash?). Through the door walked a tall man with kind of long brown hair, hardened dark blue eyes, slightly tanned skin, and a scar running across the bridge of his nose. This was obviously our teacher.

I swear I saw at least half the girls in the classroom swoon…

He was handsome, though, I had to admit.

"Good morning students," he said in a deep, if not maybe a bit flat, voice. He set his briefcase that he was holding next to his desk and took off his jacket so he was left in a white button up dress shirt and black slacks. "I am Mr. Leonhart," he wrote out his name on the board. "You shall address me by no other name. That is final." I leaned back slightly. His hard blue eyes weren't lying, nor was Kairi yesterday, he was a stiff. "There are several rules in my class. Respect everyone, no fighting, no talking while another person is talking, and no funny business," he paced back and forth in front of his class as he said this. "Don't break the rules and we'll get along perfectly fine. Now, there are papers I need to hand out…" I tuned out then. It was always the same papers every year anyways.

Rather than truly paying attention to what he was saying, I turned my attention to my sketchbook. I picked up one of my pencils and started to sketch on a pristine, crisp, and white page quietly. As I kept making my lines and curves it started turning more so into a face than scribbles. I erased all of the unnecessary lines and started defining the features, like the eyes and such. I spent a particularly long time on that, because when papers were passed to me, the clock said a good twenty minutes or so had passed. At that point, Mr. Leonhart ordered us to move because he was going to assign us a seating. I mentally groaned.

He held a clipboard and started going down rows, pointing to seats and saying our names. It seemed like a random seating so I hoped that I would get a seat next to Riku or someone that I knew. Anyone, really. When he said my name I looked to the seat hopefully and found that I was perfectly alone, with no one around me that I knew. I deflated a bit and walked to my new desk, sitting down and putting my sketch book on the desk and my bag on the ground.

I tuned out most of the talking again and continued to sketch. When I finished the face, I found the person looked remarkably like Roxas, so I sketched in his hair quickly and smiled at the finished product. It was a nice sketch of my best guy friend. I'd have to show him it later, if we had lunch together. I hoped we did. If not, there were always the other classes we had together.

I glanced around at the people who were sitting around me and didn't really see anyone stick out in the crowd. So I looked for Riku and found that he was a few seats away from me, and I think he was ignoring some girl or something. Riku _was_ quite popular with the ladies, though he didn't really notice. He liked Xion, though. That's what I think. Xion isn't really "any girl" though, so she was obviously different for him. The thought made me smile slightly before fiddling with my small curl of hair a little bit.

When the bell rung, signaling the end of class, I gathered my things and walked out of the classroom with Riku, talking idly about whatever as we walked towards our lockers. We separated down two separate halls, waving to each other.

I felt my phone vibrate as I did the combination for my locker. I opened the metal door of my locker before taking out my phone and seeing who sent me a text while in school, though I already had a hunch who it was.

**From:** Kairi  
**To:** Naminé

I'm about to die of boredom already, Nami! Even if the next class I have isn't as boring as Honors English 3 (cough, cough) I'm still contemplating putting myself into a coma or something. Maybe you should push me off my bunk again.

**From:** Naminé  
**To:** Kairi

Kairi, it's school, it is boring, remember? And don't be mean about Honors English 3, I took an advanced class, so what? And why in the world would you contemplate putting yourself into a coma? I already said sorry for that, by the way!

**From:** Kairi  
**To:** Naminé

I know, I know, I'm just messing with you because I'm BORED. You know I love you, Naminé!

**From**: Naminé  
**To**: Kairi

Uh-huh… I love you, too. I have to head to class, so I'll text you later.

**From**: Kairi  
**To**: Naminé

Psh, I'm texting you in third period when you don't have a complete stiff for a teacher! Bye!

I tucked my phone away in the side pocket of my bag before transitioning some stuff in and out of my locker quickly, double-checking everything before closing the door. I almost ran down the halls hoping desperately that I wasn't going to be late. Kairi had a bad habit of texting a person during passing period and nearly making them late. I could normally text while doing the things I normally would but my mind was hazy that morning.

When I walked into the classroom I looked around for Zexion and Xion. When I found them I saw they'd saved a desk for me between them, **s**o I exhaled gladly and took my not-permanent seat, putting my stuff down quietly and slipping into my seat.

"Good morning," Xion said pleasantly, and we had a little bit of small talk about our first class and such.

I turned to Zexion, a smile still on my face. "Morning, Zexion, it's nice to see you," I said somewhat cheerfully.

He tilted his head towards me and gave me one of his semi-rare small smiles. "Good morning, Naminé. Lovely weather we're having, no? How was your summer?"

I giggled mentally; Zexion was always polite. "Yes, the weather is lovely today. My summer was good, I drew mostly, how was yours?" I asked, attempting to mirror his seemingly undying polite manners. I had a feeling he read too much old English Literature. It is Zexion, though, so I really couldn't expect anything less. He was still one of my friends regardless.

"I spent most of my summer at the library," I heard Xion giggle slightly behind me, "picking up on reading and such. I found a book you might be interested in, Naminé. Perhaps I shall bring it tomorrow to show you?"

I nodded, a small smile gracing my face. "I would like that, Zexion, I would truly like that," I replied just before the door opened, signaling that our teacher was walking in. I straightened myself out in my desk and kept my senses high. I wanted to know just what this man was like.

The tall man that walked in had a scar across the bridge of his nose, much like my first period teacher, though this man had an 'x' across rather than just one slanted line. He had cold eyes and long blue hair (odd…). His shoulders were square and stiff, and it almost seemed like he never smiled from the very stern look on his face and the fact that his lips were in a very straight line.

Overall, he had a very… almost threatening appearance.

"Good morning," he said, his voice deep and somewhat monotonous. "Welcome to Honors English 3. I am your teacher, Mr. Saix. Let me make the rules in this class clear and simple, if I see you doing anything outside of the rules stated in the book given to you freshman year, you will be given proper punishment. You will not speak out of turn and when I ask you to do something, you will immediately do it. Am I clear?" We all nodded, and suddenly everyone was sitting up straight, eyes wide and attentive. Our teacher kind of smirked. "Good. Now, for today…"

I had a dull feeling that a lot of people were going to hate Honors English 3…

By the time we were finally released from the classroom (which Xion happily named a prison cell), nearly everyone was rubbing their temples due to the headache that was basically handed to us on a silver platter with all Mr. Saix pounded into our brains. The only exception to this was Zexion, but he was crazy smart.

"How do you _not_ have a headache?" I asked, massaging my scalp for a moment before looking at him as we walked down the hall together, Xion having left us to go to another class.

My steel blue haired friend adjusted the books in his arms as we stopped at my locker quickly to grab my history stuff and put away my English stuff. "Well, I am one of the smartest people in school," he said. If it had been anyone but me (or his other friends) listening, they would've thought he was being arrogant, but I heard the very minor teasing tone in his voice. "But, in all seriousness, the stuff he was talking about wasn't too complex, just a few vocabulary words that we should all already know from our previous years."

I gave him an incredulous look as I closed my locker. "Are you serious? Sure, we knew the words, but he gave us college-level definitions of them!" Zexion opened his mouth as we began walking again but I stopped him. "And I know very well that it is an advanced class, but I don't think anyone was ready for it, except you."

His lips quirked into a very slight smile, indicating that he agreed to some extent, before he grabbed my books from my arms. I gave him a questioning stare and he easily responded, "It's only polite for a gentleman to carry a lady's books to class," and I laughed at him. Despite the fact that Zexion rarely talked at times (I think he can go a month without talking, maybemore) he was still very sweet. I was glad he was my friend.

As we came to my classroom he handed my books to me and bowed slightly. I laughed again and curtsied slightly, just to mess with him. He tousled my hair a bit before walking away, without saying good-bye. Not that I minded, of course.

I walked into the classroom and waved to Sora, who was waving animatedly at me from the other side of the room. I walked over and sat in the seat next to him, setting my books down gently. "Hey, Sora, how's your morning been so far?"

"Awesome!" he replied happily, "My classes aren't that bad! I even got to walk Kairi to one of her classes." I smiled at him at that. He really did care for my best friend, and it was heartwarming, to say the least.

The bell rang and everyone who had been standing around talking sat down in random seats, as our teacher walked through the door. He was a fairly short man, with short black hair and warm, very welcoming eyes accompanied with a just as warm smile. My friends were right; he was most likely the nicest teacher I've had so far.

"Good morning, everybody!" he shouted before walking in front of his desk, "I'm Mr. Mouse, and I'm your World History teacher this year, as you could probably tell! There aren't too many rules in this class, and I just want you guys to do well! Notes aren't required, but recommended," I heard a few whispered shouts of excitement at that, "And you guys may sit where you want," even more, "but, if the people you can't concentrate around those people and talk too much, then I do have the power to move you wherever I want to, is that clear?" A chorus of agreements followed. "For today, I will explain what we're learning this year, and I might ask a few basic questions, to get an idea where everyone is. If there is extra time at the end of class, you may talk."

Yeah, I definitely liked this class so far, and I could tell Sora did, too. He was basically wiggling in his seat in excitement now. I couldn't help but laugh at him slightly.

As Mr. Mouse started talking, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket so I glanced around quickly before taking it out, hoping that no one would see.

**From:** Kairi  
**To:** Naminé

Hey girl! How're you liking 3rd period so far? I bet you and Sora are loving it. I wish I could be there with you guys, seriously!

**From:** Naminé  
**To:** Kairi

Hey. I'm loving third period! Mr. Mouse is awesome, and I'm pretty sure Sora loves it, too. He's wiggling in his seat! We wish you were here, too.

**From:** Kairi  
**To:** Naminé

I'm in love with an idiot, aren't I? Haha, wiggling! I love that word, it's so random, like me! Oh, Riku is giving me a disapproving stare for texting in class… hee hee! Riku's just jealous, isn't he?

**From:** Naminé  
**To:** Kairi

Yeah, jealous, of course! Now, setting aside the sarcasm, you totally just got off topic! And, yes, you are in love with an idiot. A lovable idiot.

**From:** Kairi  
**To:** Naminé

You could at least agree with me! Don't use that sarcastic texting tone with me, missy! And I love getting off topic, it's so much fun, don't you think? And, oh my, I just gasped, don't tell me you're in love with my boyfriend! You traitor!

**From:** Naminé  
**To: **Kairi

What the hell, Kairi (excuse my language)? I love Sora, but I don't love, love him! You should know that!

**From: **Kairi  
**To: **Naminé

I know, I'm kidding! Jeez! What I saw in the hallway before this period screams that you don't like my Sora, anyways. And, Nami, you can cuss all you want. We're juniors! I say ass, damn, and other words all the time!

**From:** Naminé  
**To:** Kairi

I'm going to ignore the minor cussing streak you just went on, and focus on what bothered me and didn't make sense in that text. What did you see in the hallway? How does that involve my love life and me?

**From:** Kairi  
**To**: Naminé

Oh come on, Zexion was carrying your books for you! And you guys were walking really close together, it screams, "Hey, we're a couple!" at everyone. Did you not notice people staring and whispering to each other about you two? The only think missing was the handholding, and I expected the dude to grab your hand any moment. It looked like he really wanted to. Don't deny it, Miss Naminé! Oops, teacher coming, I got to go! Talk to you later!

**From:** Naminé  
**To: **Kairi

Wait, Kairi!

When I didn't get a text back I blew out a mouth full of air and brushed my blonde bangs away from my eyes. I was kind of annoyed with Kairi at that point, she read too far into this stuff. He was just being polite, for crying out loud, and he was _not_ going to grab my hand. Silly Kairi…

I rubbed my eyes before zoning back into what my teacher was saying, whatever that was. What Kairi said was still bothering me, though…

When it was time for fourth period, I walked through the halls looking around, seeing things that I've been seeing for years. The high ceiling, plenty of large windows, giant staircases… the walls were mainly white. It was a really bright school, and it took a while to get used to. Of course, I already was, but that was because I love the color white, if it's even considered a color. My room back at home is white, after all.

People stood by their lockers, chatting with friends and whispering to each other, probably about some gossip that had already started. A few boys were trying to hit on girls, as far as I could tell, and some of the girls were flirting back, others purposely ignoring the boys.

My school was most definitely always busy, of course. Rarely was a single day truly boring, due to the constant gossip that was flying around the place. Didn't help that everyone lived on campus, of course.

When I came into view of my locker, I saw Zexion leaning against the one next to it, reading some giant book. I smiled slightly and walked over to him, holding my books against my chest. "Hey, Zexion," I said cheerfully, unlocking my locker and putting my books away, before grabbing my school sketch book (totally different than my personal one).

He didn't respond for about ten seconds (probably waiting for a stopping point in his book), before closing whatever book that was and turning towards me. "Hey," he responded quietly. He held out his arms, silently asking if he could carry my books again. I blushed slightly and handed him my sketchbooks and pencil case.

As we began walking, I scratched at my cheek. "It's not that many books, you know. Just… my sketchbooks and such…" I muttered, a bit embarrassed that he still wanted to do this, even if the load was amazingly light. I remember what Kairi had texted me, and my blush got even worse.

My silvery-blue haired friend shrugged. "I don't really mind. It is a gentlemanly thing to do, so I should do it," he responded bluntly, as per usual.

He shifted our books into one arm and let the other just kind of hang next to him. I started fidgeting slightly, starting to get a little nervous. Suddenly, his pale hand grabbed mine and I turned my head towards him sharply. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. I nodded, unable to talk, and he had a satisfied look, before dropping my hand and continuing the walk to class.

I let out the breath I wasn't aware I was holding and followed after my very quiet friend, and felt my phone vibrate. I took it out, already knowing who it was.

**From**: Kairi  
**To**: Naminé

I saw that! I saw that! You so like him, you so like him! But, you should like Roxas, you silly girl.

**From**: Naminé  
**To**: Kairi

Shut up Kairi. I don't like Zexion, end of story, end of discussion.

**From**: Kairi  
**To**: Naminé

He likes you, at least.

I didn't respond after that, not having a fair argument against that. He didn't like me, I just knew that much. Zexion doesn't "like" people, he doesn't fall for people. If he did, then he would've asked one of the girls who like him already out, or would've accepted at least one date with one of them.

Seriously.

As we walked into class and sat next to each other, a girl caught my attention. She was pretty tall (at least from what I could tell; she was sitting down of course), and had blue hair that ended at the bottom of her neck (medium length, perhaps) and blue, blue eyes. I suppose that the color of her hair and eyes caught my attention. She was a very pretty girl, though.

I didn't have too much time to think on it when a small young woman came skipping into class just as the bell rung. She had short black hair and dark, but warmly cheerful, eyes. She didn't look any older than twenty… and she was apparently our teacher.

She introduced herself as Mrs. Yuffie Valentine, formerly Yuffie Kisaragi not more than four months prior. Mrs. Valentine revealed that she was, indeed, barely over the age of twenty, but was insanely into art. She spoke about how we were going to have fun in this class, and do projects rather than take notes (I was truly thankful for this). After telling us the rules of the class (there were basically none, we just had to make sure to not get into fights) she said, "For today, we're all going to share who we are and give a brief background of ourselves, okay?" she cheered. Nobody even complained, because Mrs. Valentine's happiness was contagious.

"Okay, I'll start off!" our teacher shouted, before hopping up onto her desk, crossing her legs. I could tell everyone was a little shocked; teachers never sat on their desks. She simply giggled and continued, "I'm Yuffie Valentine, as you guys know already. If I get to know you well enough you can call me Yuffie! When I was younger I claimed to be the best ninja in the world, which I am! My maiden name is Kisaragi, and I got married a mere four months ago, to a very tall, serious, kind of cold and was brooding before I met him, man." We all just kind of stared at her after she gave a brief summary of the man she married. He sounded nothing like any of us were expecting, I could tell. "His name is Vincent, and I love him very much," she gave an affirming nod, as if trying to convince us. "I have a major in art, and graduated early because of how my teaching skills are. That's it! Next!" The last word was said in such a singsong voice that the next person began speaking immediately.

It eventually came to me, Zexion's being… really very short. He really didn't like talking… so I cleared my throat a bit before standing up, a small, slightly nervous smile gracing my face, "Hi… I'm Naminé Nomura… I live in Traverse Town, and, uhm… I love my friends as well as art," I said slightly awkwardly before sitting down. There wasn't much to tell, after all. My teacher still gave me a smile and a nod, before telling the next person to begin.

As the next person began talking, I started to only half listen, mulling over everything that had happened so far this morning. Two teachers were strict, the other two were nice… it was quite interesting, honestly. I wondered how the other teachers were going to be… well, I'll just have to wait and see, won't I?

"Next!" My teacher's voice suddenly rang out loudly. I tuned back into what people were saying and turned my body slightly towards the girl who was speaking. It was the girl who I had saw when I walked into class.

When she stood up, I noted that she was, in fact, tall, probably taller than Roxas, but shorter than Riku. In addition (this may sound kind of creepy, but I'm making observations), she had quite a curvy body. A rather large, but still proportionate chest, small waist, and a bit above average hips, making her quite the center of attention (for boys, at least). "Hi, I'm Aqua Ryuusei. I live in the Land of Departure. I have an aptitude for craft making, and I'm also very devoted to my friends," with that, she sat down.

I twisted my body towards the front of the room again, letting the rest of class slowly slip by…

* * *

I couldn't help but whine on my way to gym, to none other than Roxas. You would whine, too, if you were dubbed "worst person in gym class" for no apparent reason. And due to this, I showed absolutely no interest in sports, and basically sucked at all of them. I was actually quite good at sports! No, really, I was… I was just really clumsy and happened to trip… a lot.

"Gym is always horrible for me, Roxas! I trip so much I can't play sports correctly and—!" and suddenly I was falling. Down the stairs. "Shi—!" and then I heard _more_ books clutter to the ground and warm arms wrapped around me, stopping my fall effectively. So, there I was standing, leaned over, halfway down one of the unnecessarily large staircases, my back bent more than I thought was possible, and Roxas' arms around my waist and his lower half pressed against mine.

You would be bright red, too.

But have I mentioned how much I loved Roxas (as a friend!)? Well, I do, a lot.

We stared at each other for a while, and I found my eyes trained onto the only slight bags under his eyes. It didn't look like he slept much as night. He must've been tired, so I felt a little bad for making his react so quickly and catch me (not that I meant to, it was an accident!).

"You're such a klutz Naminé," he said, his tone as teasing as his smile as he pulled upwards. "What happens when one day you fall down the stairs and I'm not there to help you?" he asked playfully, chuckling as he bent down and grabbed our books.

I pouted slightly, "Well… I don't trip that much. It's just that I was thinking about tripping and I was walking down the stairs!" I said to defend myself.

"Sure," he teased, stretching out the 'u' in it more than needed.

I semi-glared at him and we continued to the gym, where Axel was leaned against the bleachers, waiting for us. I waved to him, and he smirked waving back.

"Yo, what took you guys so long?" he asked as he strutted closer to us, his hands in his pockets.

"She nearly fell down the stairs and I had to play Prince Charming and save her," Roxas answered easily before I got a chance to open my mouth. The blush of evil returned.

"Nice, man!" Axel shouted, giving Roxas a high five.

I frowned at them, before sticking my tongue out at them, showing my slightly childish side for a moment before our coach called us over.

Coach Hercules was… very tall, and very muscular, with golden hair and dark eyes… not much to describe about him. But his co-coach was… quite the opposite. He was really short, kind of fat, with curly red hair, whose name was Phil. I heard Axel snicker when he name was announced, and I nudged him in the side slightly to shut him up.

The moment Coach announced that we didn't have to change out today, which didn't have any sort of rule tacked onto it, everyone disbanded to separate areas of the gym in their personal groups quickly. I, of course, sat with Axel and Roxas near the door, against the bleachers. It was a fairly quiet spot, and normally far enough away from any teacher or coach that Axel could get away with pulling his lighter out (not that I approved. I didn't approve of it at all).

For the rest of PE, we just lazily talked back and forth, Roxas being quieter than usual, though it wasn't too bad. I blamed it on him being tired, so I didn't think on it much.

And so, Gym passed easily and it found Roxas, Axel, and I found ourselves walking towards the cafeteria together.

We had been walking fairly slowly, so by the time we actually walked into the spacious, mostly white, lunchroom there was a long line of people waiting for food, and tables were filling quickly, so we headed towards the line before any more students would file inside.

After about ten or so minutes, all three of us were finally looking for a table together. I saw Kairi waving excitedly at us from the other side or the very white, crowded room, so I informed my male friends and we started weaving through people to get there. I flopped down on the seat next to my red-haired friend and took a deep breath. "Wow, that was a lot of people," I breathed.

Kairi laughed airily and patted my shoulder. "Sorry for putting you through that, Nami, but I really liked this table!" She returned to eating her salad, shifting in her seat restlessly. I could tell she was itching to talk about Zexion, but she kept her mouth shut. Probably because Roxas was here.

"So, does no one else have this lunch with us?" Roxas asked a bit distractedly pushing food around his plate, glancing at us every so often.

Kairi laughed and shook her head, "Nah, nah, Sora has this lunch, too," she pointed to the very full plate next to her, that somehow none of us noticed, "Xion and Riku were separated from us though." She pouted and wiped her fake tears away. "How sad! It's so terrible that they're not with us!" she wailed.

I laughed and patted her back gently, "It's okay Kairi, maybe they have lunch together. We'll ask Xion tonight, okay?"

Kairi perked up from her faux-depression and giggled. "You're right, you're right! Silly me! So how has your guys' day so far?" she asked, sticking a piece of lettuce in her mouth.

Axel leaned back in his chair, sticking a French fry in his mouth. "Eh, not bad. Most of my teachers dislike me already since they caught me with my lighter out, heh," he said, a smirk overtaking his face. I giggled again, despite the fact that I'd already heard it.

I, again, spoke of my teachers, how two of them were intimidating and three were perfectly nice, and Kairi started squirming more when I mentioned how Zexion was in two of my classes, and I rolled my eyes at her when Axel and Roxas weren't looking. She, in return, stuck her tongue out at me.

Sora was suddenly on the other side of my best friend. He flopped down into his chair and leaned over, kissing Kairi's cheek gently, causing Axel to fake-gag and throw something at Sora's head. "No sappy stuff during lunch! It's annoying to look at, man," Axel teased, laughing before pulling back out his lighter.

Sora stuck his tongue out (like Kairi had) and threw whatever Axel threw at him back. "Hey, I'm lucky enough to have a pretty girlfriend, unlike you!" Kairi blushed slightly, though Sora had called her pretty more times than I (or she) could even count. I giggled slightly, causing Kairi to give me a look.

I quieted my giggle to a snicker and looked over at Roxas, suddenly realizing that he hadn't said a thing since his little question. He was staring off into space, looking at something. I followed his line of vision and saw a brunette male with long spiky hair, sitting in front of some other person whom I could not see. "Roxas?" I called out, dragging everyone's attention towards him and I. "Roxas?" I called out again, waving my hand in front of his face. He didn't respond, so I tried again, shouting this time, "Roxas!"

He suddenly jolted and looked at me. "Huh?" he asked, slightly dazed.

I stared at him – all of us did – with a concerned expression, "Are you okay? You zoned out again," I spoke slowly, as if not wanting to scare him. I probably hadn't wanted to.

He blinked one, two, three times before giving me a very slight smile, "Yeah, I'm okay," he said nodding before taking a bite out of his burger and laughing a bit nervously when nobody's gaze left him, "Seriously, guys, I'm okay. I'm just a little tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

"I noticed," Sora said, popping a piece of candy into his mouth before biting into his chicken and taking a sip from his soda, "You were tossing and turning, it was really annoying, dude! I couldn't sleep much, either, because of you," Sora tossed a piece of candy at his brother's head, smiling a bit. "Silly."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Uh huh," he said before eating the candy thrown at him. "Whatever, say what you want."

I sighed inwardly, letting things settle back to normal. Conversation picked up again (though slowly) and everyone began to relax.

On our way to Chemistry, Roxas was eerily quiet, and I stared at him, a little concerned. "Are you okay, Roxas?" I asked slowly, once again.

He looked at me, his face blank again, before giving me his warmest, kindest smile, making my heart stutter very, _very_ slightly. "I'm fine, Naminé, seriously, I really am," he said, waving it off again. I decided to leave it be again.

Chemistry passed quickly, Roxas and I sitting together and such, our teacher a little creepy, though not too much I suppose. We parted ways as I headed to Journalism, honestly not excited to have a class with Kairi for once. By the way she was restless at the end of lunch, I knew this would be a long, _long_ talk.

I walked into the classroom, a man with flippy pink hair (I mean, seriously, _pink_) was sitting at the large front desk. I nodded to him politely before I saw Kairi in the far corner of the classroom. She seemed really into corners and far walls this year, for some reason. I shrugged my shoulders and made my way over to her, sitting my stuff down on the computer next to hers and sitting down next to her, signing onto my computer with the pass code that all students had had since their first year at the school.

Kairi was giving me a creepy smile again, so I sighed and turned towards her, blocking out our teachers greetings and such. It was all the same every single time anyways. "Yes, Kairi? You can talk now," I said in a hushed tone, trying not to attract the teacher's attention.

She took a deep breath and spoke in a yelling whisper, "I saw what happened between you and Zexion! Nami, you cannot deny he likes you now! Come on! But, I highly doubt you like him though, am I right?" She leaned really close to me, looking right into my light blue eyes.

I stared right back into her dark blue eyes and sighed. "Okay, he _might_ like me. I'm not giving a final answer unless he seriously tells me. And, _no_, I do not like him that way. He's just a close friend who I can study with, that's all," I said before turning to my computer to enjoy the free time that Mr. Marluxia had said we had (that's the only thing I picked up, and I'm sure that's the only thing Kairi picked up from the talk, as well).

Kairi smiled in triumph, turning to her computer. She didn't speak for a few minutes, before she quietly asked (more like stated), "You like Roxas, don't you?" She pulled up a webpage and started typing into the search bar.

I decided it'd be better not to answer, and brought up another subject, "So… how's your blog and that stuff?" I asked as I, as well, pulled up a web page.

Kairi giggled at my obvious change of subject. "Fine, of course! I'm getting more hits everyday! It's amazing, huh?" she nudged my side slightly before returning to her computer. I had a feeling she was on Facebook, like me.

I checked my account, replying to Kairi without looking away from the screen. "Yeah, that's amazing. I'm happy for you, Kairi," I said, before updating my status since it was unchanged since Saturday.

**Naminé Nomura **is enjoying Journalism with Kairi right now!

* * *

When Journalism let out, Kairi and I headed back towards our dorm after putting our stuff away. When back into the dorm, I flopped onto my bed while Kairi ran over to the dresser and pulled out a purple and white sundress, and white shoes before running into the bathroom to change.

I glanced after her. "Where're you going, Kairi?" I asked, sitting up and leaning over to grab my sketchbook since we didn't have homework today.

"I'm going out with Sora," she shouted from the bathroom. How shocking.

"On a school night?" I called back before setting my pencil to the paper and sketching circles on the page.

"Yeah, I mean, it's only the first day of school, no biggie, right?" she asked as she came out of the bathroom, hopping on one foot to get a shoe on. I laughed at her and went back to sketching. She ran back into the bathroom, probably to brush her hair and put on some light make up, before she ran back out with her hair in a pony tail. "I'll see you in a few hours!" she shouted as she opened the door, stopping suddenly and then smiling. "Hey, Xion! I'm going on a date, be back soon!" she said again, before brushing past the short black haired girl.

Xion walked back in shaking her head, dropped her bag on the floor and sat on her bunk, tugging off her shoes and giving me a slight smile. "Hey, Naminé," she said as she pulled her laptop onto her lap, opening it and turning it on

"Hey Xion," I replied, and I asked her how her first day was. She answered calmly, saying that she liked all of her teachers and had lunch with Riku and that kind of stuff.

I nodded and shared my day with her as I continued sketching.

At around eleven, Kairi still hadn't come back, so I texted her, wondering where she was.

**From**: Naminé  
**To**: Kairi

Hey, where are you?

**From**: Kairi  
**To**: Naminé

I'm on my way back to the room.

I just stared at the phone before turning to my laptop and opening my Internet Browser. I clicked on the tab that held Kairi's blog and read the newest one that she**'d** probably uploaded from Sora's computer or something.

* * *

Title: First Day, Woo Hoo!  
Mood: Happy  
Listening To: Sora's Snoring  
Eating: Lay's  
Location: Sora and Roxas' Dorm

Hey there, everyone! You guys must be wondering why I'm in Sora and Roxas' room… I fell asleep, of course! I was tired… sue me. I just had the best date of my life, regardless. It was a lot of fun! Sora made us a picnic that we ate together outside and everything! It was really, really sweet. I love you, Sora!

Anyways, my first day of school was amazing. I still hate Chemistry, Algebra, and all of those classes, but my teachers are nice enough. I got really lucky this year, which I'm ecstatic about! I even have lunch with Naminé, Sora, Roxas, and Axel, though there's no Xion and Riku. I was very upset about that fact, just ask Nami! I had an entire emo moment. It was quite funny. This year's looking like it'll be an amazing year! Who agrees with me?

By the way, Roxas, you keep zoning out, it's unnerving to the max. And Naminé, you have to stop avoiding my question someday! You two are on my bad list! Everyone else is okay, though, of course. I still love you all!

Let's all cross our fingers and hope that the rest of the year goes by with little faults!

With love,

Kairi

* * *

There were no comments, since it was pretty new. Only posted a few minutes ago, plus it was pretty late.

I looked down at my finished rough sketch as the door opened and Kairi slipped in. The picture was of us, all of us, Riku, Xion, Kairi, Sora, Axel, Roxas, and myself, sitting together, smiling. It was us yesterday, basically. I had a feeling that that was the last bit of normalcy our group would have for a very… very long time…

_

* * *

_

A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry about the semi-late update! But (just as GreyPurpleBlack says below) tomorrow is my first day of school. How fun.

Putting sarcasm behind us, I hope you enjoyed Chapter 3! ... Okay, honestly, it dragged on a bit. You could tell I was tired of writing it after a while. It's kind of obvious... and the point of the speeches in Art Class was purely for my own personal amusement, honestly.

As an extra note, after this chapter the chapters will be shorter. They've been awfully long up until now (over 10 pages in MSWord per chapter, if I remember correctly), but with school restarting for me (and for Grey) it'll be easier on us to make shorter chapters. Plus, with shorter chapters, there will be more of them in the story, and updates will be more often! That's good, right?

Oh! By the way, this is a little bit of self-promotion, but I have a LiveJournal account now that I'll try to update every Sunday, if you want to read it. The link is on my userpage!

B/N: What better way to usher in the new school year than with a new chapter! *Cue chorus of groans* C'mon, kiddies, it's just school! It's not that... okay, not even I can finish that sentence. If you've already gone back, HA-HA. Sucks for you. No really, I am sorry. You got to be stressed before us. If you go back tomorrow like Rei and I do, then YAY. YOU'LL SUFFER WITH US. Misery loves company. But let's look on the bright side: now there's stuff to do, and you get to see your friends more often (ahem,

_I apologize in advance for any future delays, but school is a thousand times more important than fanfiction (sad, but true). Before I can edit I have schoolwork, and I'm sure Rei feels the same way (except, of course, with her writing). _

_**daily!**__, ahem), and you get to __**learn!**__ Whippee! We get to be educated! _

_Good luck in school this year! _

_Review!_


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